I’ve started posting goodies on my Etsy shop! I’m starting with photographs tonight, but other items will be there over time. Cards, coasters, whatever strikes my crafty fancy at the moment!
If there is a particular print that you would like to purchase that I haven’t listed there yet, please feel free to let me know!
No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.
– Alice Walker
Last fall, I had to make a decision regarding a friend. After many years, and an obviously destructive relationship, I had to “break up” with her. I think of her often; it is so random at times when my thoughts of her pop up. It may have been one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make regarding a friend.
But it is moments like this, moments when I read quotes like that (found on Myla Kent’s Flickr stream), that I know, without a doubt, that I made the right choice.
I would never tolerate a bad relationship with someone I was dating – not now, not after the lessons I have learned the hard way in life and the hurdles I have overcome – so why tolerate a bad relationship with a friend like that? It doesn’t make sense when you look at it that way, does it? I didn’t think so, so I made a hard call and decided to make a change. That doesn’t mean I don’t have moments in passing where I think of her and wonder how she is doing. I wish her nothing but the best, but I know that I can not be a part of it.
Why do women do that? What is it about us that makes us willing to accept something like that? What makes someone the type of friend that would hold another friend back from reaching for her dreams?
I’ve had a blog for a long time, and many times over the past 6 years I have had to stop and think about what I write about on this blog. Sometimes, it seems like people don’t really think about it though. Because once again, a blogger has been fired because of her blog. Their reason when they fired her? “I am not the kind of person they want to associate themselves with.”
Yes. It CAN happen to you.
I feel bad saying she was fired “because” of her blog, because really, she was fired because of what she chose to write on her blog. Along with what she wrote on her MySpace site. It always amazes me though – Dooce was fired about 5 years ago, and yet people can’t learn from her mistakes.
Sure, if you blog mainly about what you knit, you shouldn’t really run into a problem. Unfortunately, I can’t see exactly what Jessa Jeffries blogged about, because her blogspot site now doesn’t have any posts on it. You can read a lot of juicy quotes over at Thought Mechanics though. But if you need better quotes, then look at these Inspirational Quotes about life. Lets take a moment and look at some of these things that she wrote:
“In my blog I refference work, I took pictures at work – which is allowed – in fact bosses and co-works did the taking. I posted those pictures and wrote about my days at work.”
People. Seriously. Don’t write about work. Especially anything negative about work. Don’t post photographs from your job, at least not anything that can be identified. There just is no need for it. I realize that work makes up like 90% of the time you are awake, but still. Do. Not. Write. About. Work.
“My Geology classroom tonight was in the Serengeti. This is where I discovered the Rubies had been stolen. I decided against making an announcment to all the troop leaders. I invisioned a massive backpack search that would no doubt end in tears for the little scout who swiped the stones – not realizing thier worth. I just stuck a peice of garnet in it’s place and hoped no one would be the wiser.”
Great. So she has taught some child that it is ok to steal, and that they will get away with it. “Not realizing thier (sic) worth” implies that they were, in fact, worth something. If so, stealing is wrong. Even if some kid is going to end up in tears, it is better than letting them think that it is ok. What they did was wrong, and they need to learn that lesson. Also, not too brilliant to tell your employers (via your blog) that you let someone steal.
“I was fired because of the way I represented myself on the internet. I made it public knowledge that I worked at the Academy even though I never specified which one it was – I did have pictures of me wearing my work shirt.”
You know what? Most employers do care about how you represent yourself in public. Some employers will fire people over it. Whatever you do in your own home is done in private, but you make it public when you put it on the Internet. I’m not saying that no one should have a blog, because I do not feel that way. But if you blog from the office, be forewarned that they can and probably will get pissy about it. (Yes, I have been there.) If you talk about politics and you work somewhere that might just hold that against you – like when I worked at a very small law firm – you might want to think twice before you put it in writing. Matter of fact, just think about it before you type anything – make your words delicious, because you might just be forced to eat them someday.
“They told me that if I didn’t comply that they would send my archived blog to the Aquarium where I also work, and if I ever listed them as a reference they would forward the content to any future employeers.”
Now I have an issue with that part about forwarding the content to future employers. That is a bit over the top – especially since I have always been told that according to federal labor laws, the most they can do is confirm dates of employment and verify a salary. They are not allowed to say things like, “she sucked” or “let me tell you what she blogged about” when called for an employment reference. Now if you put them down as a personal reference, that is a completely different situation. As for the Aquarium, who knows – maybe they can do that. I don’t know.
If you don’t want your words to come back to you someday, think about it before you write about it. It is simply the smartest thing to do. Learn from the bloggers that have come before you.
UPDATE: Thanks to Blogebrity, I found the cached copy of her site (oh yes, your words can follow you even after you take them offline), and she seems to have been wiser about the whole thing in the end.
“this blog is still being deconstructed. i made my bed, i’ll lie in it.”
and
“a little more anoniminty can’t hurt anyone. life lesson # 567 learned.”
Now let them be life lessons for you too.
On a side note, “the NBA fined Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $200,000 for going onto the court after Game 1 of Dallas’ series against the Spurs and criticizing league officials on his blog.” A $200,000 fine. In part, for what he wrote on his blog. See? It really CAN happen to anyone.
Yesterday, Elaine and I headed out for our day full of photography. I knew it was going to be a good day, but I had no idea just HOW good of a day it was going to be! So good, we were already coming up with plans for our upcoming photo excursions! I can’t wait to see how her photographs turn out – we looked at the camera displays while we were out and about, but they always look so much better full size!
I went over to her house late in the morning, and dropped my car off so she could drive us around town in her adorable VW beetle. I’ve never ridden in her car before – such fun! We went to Houston Camera Exchange, where we shopped for camera bags, filters, and I picked up the spray that I needed to hand color more photographs. (Coming soon to Etsy!) After we left there, we headed over to the Hobbit Cafe for lunch. It was warm outside, but perfect weather for relaxing in the shade of Hobbit Cafe. Yummy food and great conversation, we had a blast!
From there, we headed over to Hermann Park for the Assignment: Houston project. When Mike, Jason & I went to the zoo back over Spring Break, we purchased a family membership – so now we get to go to the zoo for free all year! Elaine just got a new fancypants camera, and I haven’t been using mine as much recently since I was shooting film for my photography class, so it was the perfect time to spend a few hours at the zoo. Hot, but a perfect blue sky made for a great day.
I have a lot of flower macros from the day to make my way through, and a whole round of flamingo photographs. I couldn’t get enough of either one!
After the zoo, we walked through Hermann Park, stopping to photograph some more at Miller Outdoor Theater. They were preparing for an opera in the park last night, but we left and headed over to a tea room for bubble tea. Well, bubble tea for Elaine, I got water! After hours outdoors, I needed lots of water. As we were heading towards home, we made an impromptu detour to Eleanor Tinsley park for skyline photographs, and a few more flower macros!
By the time we made it back to Elaine’s house, we were both hot, sweaty, tired, but very happy. I haven’t been feeling so creatively inspired recently, but I am now. It is a good feeling!
I headed for home, spent the evening watching a movie with Mike & Jason, and just relaxing. Today was dedicated to getting some things done around the house, getting Jason ready for his final exams, and enjoying some down time. I watched “The Terminal” (very good!) and “In Good Company” (pretty good, but I didn’t care for the ending).
Now I have a lot of editing ahead of me in Photoshop, as I convert them from RAW and get them ready for printing. I’m planning on posting some photographs on Etsy this week – if there are any that you are interested in seeing there, please let me know!
Ok, just HOW can Barbie be holding the baby AND pregnant? What? It does NOT work like that.
Also, you really MUST read what the little flower on the packaging has written on it, it is such a special surprise!
So, is Mattel going to change the packaging on all of the “regular” Barbies now to say “Pre-Pregnant Barbie?” Because that would be hilarious!